I don't know how high wasps will go, but a few years ago on my way up I
didn't realize had just past a nest tucked in on an inside corner of the
tower at about 40 feet. Since I was moving right along I was at 45 to 50
feet before they caught up with me and I got four or five stings. Since I
was by that time well past the nest, and the wasps had gone home, I
continued to the top (@ 100 feet) and did my work while harboring the
unpleasant contemplation of having to return back down past the nest. So I
tucked my pants into my socks buttoned up my shirt as tight as possible and
proceeded down being sure not to slow down near the nest. Made it down with
no additional stings. I am fortunate that stings don't have much effect on
me - only five or ten minutes of moderate pain, whereas some might perish
from a few. At any rate it showed to my satisfaction that they will nest at
at least 50 feet, although I have never had any signs of them at 100 feet.
Gene / W2LU
----- Original Message -----
From: <n8cc@mei.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2013 8:21 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] [Towertalk] Caps (was: Hose Clamps)
***Comments below
Are bugs and spiders in elements a problem
for you? I am not an entomologist, but with the exception of
wasps, most of the bugs and spiders that I see are closer to the
ground. I think that you are more likely to have them inside
your PVC furnace exhaust which is not covered at all and would cause
a serious malfunction if blocked. Even if they were inside
your tubing, I think that a spider would be less harmful to your
antenna than an element full of water.
John KK9A
***I'm not an entomologist, and I didn't even stay at a
Holiday Inn Express last night.
Amazingly, I
have TWO friends who have trapped multiband antennas at heights
of 80
and 110 feet who had their traps PACKED with dead bugs
and their nesting materials.
I wouldn't have believed it if I
hadn't seen it myself. I actually helped put up one of
them,
so I know for sure it was clean at the time of
installation. Little devils are relentless!
Also, even without the bugs, HyGain recommended poly rope in the
elements as a
vibration dampening measure. A little
bit of the poly is frayed out and folded around
the
element end, and held in place by the end cap. At least for as
long as the end
cap lasts! Right now I have a
couple of antennas with a few inches of rope dangling
from the
element ends. Unsightly....
Jeff - N8CC
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